@Lightbringer, using the full screen backlight doesn’t seem very efficient, since intensity is absolute crap at that point.
And yes, we can get along, no problem.
It’s just that with flashlights, we have every choice imaginable in terms of size that phone lights should only be used as a high CRI camera flash, and nothing else.
I mean, we have tiny rechargeable button cell lights, AAA lights, 18650 lights, lights for every size!
We even have lights for women’s pockets… which don’t exist for some reason on some women’s pants.
Sure, desk jockeys may never need much more that a cell phone light…
but plenty of people don’t work at a desk all day or live in the city where there is a ton of street lighting/light pollution.
I tried going back to keychain light only (~80 lumens) for a while and was wishing several times throughout both the day and night I had a bigger light with me.
Agreed with the first part. Trousers and shorts with no pockets are worth very little to me, even as loungewear, exactly because I can’t carry a light on them.
Mixed emitter lights, i.e. a D4 with two 3000K and two 5000K, look like a manufacturing defect or a bizarre EOL light. Mixed emitters don’t consistently yield a BBL tint. You are still at the mercy of the tint lottery, but now you’re spreading yourself further out. Lee Minus-Green filters are a superior method that works consistently at producing “rosier” tints from green-biased emitters, yet no one seems to be talking about those? Oh yes, I wanted to add that the Lee filters, when applied to green or above BBL emitters have been shown by Maukka to improve R9 and even CRI values while emitter mixing worsens these values. The Lee filters also enhance the objective saturation values— R (g), and make colors pop.
They might help, assuming they have a lot of green, but you’re working with emitters that don’t push much red. You’ll be loosing out on output, the main reason one might go such an emitter in the first place. Still might be interesting if someone maybe does some spectral analysis tests?? You’re probably better off going high-CRI then objectively filtering to your hearts content in a manner that offers greater control and immediate flexibility. It’s trivial to swap filters, but it’s over an hour’s work to swap emitters back and forth.
The LED light on my cellphone (HTC 10) is excellent. It has 2 emitters, one cool and one warm. Together they get a nice “averaged” neutral tint that to my eye leans a little warm. The only thing that sucks is that the hardware seems incapable of supporting a dimming function (not on OEM app & 3rd party can’t seem to do it).
I don’t use my cellphone flashlight much, because I usually keep a small AAA EDC light in my pocket. Or use the rechargeable Olight i1R on my car keychain. Those are far brighter and easier to wield. But, sometimes the cellphone light comes in handy. Easy to prop up and lean against something. Plus, the floody beam is very useful.
I really don’t get why people will go out of their way to say one particular kind of light is the best and diss all the rest. There are so many uses for the different form factors available.
I have to agree a bit on the FW3A. The tail button needs to be recessed more (which would be at all, min currently seems to sit flush), or harder to click, or both. I frequently turn mine on when clipping it onto my back pocket. I've never had that issue with my other tail switch lights. I expected this light to dominate my pocket-time, but it hasn't. If I'm not out after night, I'm frequently carrying only my D25C or RRT01. If it's dark out, I will always take an 18650 light, and sometimes with a backup smaller light for fun.
Also, I love that your EDC is a Supfire host. It's just... It's perfect for this forum. That tailcap is awesome, too.
I love my Leatherman Wave, but for the pliers function I find the SOG Powerlock to be superior. It has a compression style mechanism that multiplies the force. Really nicely done. The rest of the functionality is good but a little oddly implemented.
I use my skeletool pliers too. It only took about 30 generations of Leatherman and other pocket pliers to get them to be usable; honorable mention going to the Leatherman Wingman which IMHO was the transition from useless pocket pliers to useful pocket pliers. The Skeletool has a good plier set, solid for unscrewing and excellent for “wrenching” things apart.
